22/4/22
Today was day two of my Mardi Himal trek and we hoped to make it from Forest Camp up through Low Camp to High Camp – it was only around ten kilometres but with a fair bit of climb (over 1km up)! We set off after a breakfast of eggs and tea, having been waved off by our guest house lady.
The views were stunning over the valleys either side of the ridge and there was an abundance of rhodendron trees once we were completely out of the woods. We passed by a group of Nepali guys, one of which was a Ghurka (a Nepalese segment of the British army). He had come home to go on holiday with his school mates, and in that time they had chosen to trek together. We passed by various people and chatted on the way. There was a hardy old French couple who were on our tail the whole way and in the end overtook us a time or two! I reminded myself that they had probably hiked loads in the Alps and had strong Alpine legs! There were quite a lot of French hikers including some people heading down the mountain again. The general consensus of people coming down was that Base Camp, the highest point non-climbers can reach us not really worth it as it is the same view as the slightly lower viewpoint. Another girl also said it was insanely cold up there and she had to turn back for safety reasons. While it would be nice to go as high as you could, we would see what it was like when we got there we decided.
We stopped in a cute cafe/guest house with beautiful views of the valley and the flowering trees. There was a super cool Texan guy on there, with the cowboy hat on (I kid you not). This was his fifth time hiking Mardi Himal and he had started in the 70s! He said it had changed loads in the fifty years and that originally you had to bring a tent and all the food you’d need for the whole trek, as there were no facilities at all. Incidentally, they did not bring enough food at all and were very hungry after a day or two!! This time he was taking it slowly, doing an hour or two of hiking each day, before choosing a nice guest house to relax all afternoon in. His guide/sherpa had great tips on where to eat apparently! While we were eating – I ordered tuna cheese macaroni, because you can’t eat dahl bat forever – a storm came! The winds picked up and the rain hammered down. We really hoped it would pass. Both the Texan guy and his sherpa were worries for us!
A little while later, the wind settled and the rain calmed down and we headed back out onto the elements. We headed up a step set of steps and continued on. Eventually, we made it to High Camp, with its no hot water, no Western loos, no WiFi, but occasionally insaaaaane views of the Annapurna mountains and Machapulchre, nicknamed Fishtail mountain for ease!
Once again, we took wet things off and settled in around the fire. The two Israelis from Forest Camp, Joni and Eli, were also staying here, who Joshue had met before so we talked with them. A little later, a South Korean girl, So Yung, a solo traveller, who Joshua also knew, arrived with a pair of friends, Spanish Daniel and Indian Sandip – they had met in Goa a few months before! We watched the sunset around us from the living room. Another couple arrived a little later, they were Nepali and kept a little to themselves but joined in sometimes. Before dinner we all sat around together, nine people with seven different nationalities! It was rare to be the only Brit! We ate dahl bat before I ordered a hot chocolate and headed to bed.
23/4/22
The early night was necessary as today we woke up to 03.00 alarms to prepare to start walking at 03.30. This was so we’d have two hours to reach the viewpoint climbing around another 700m before sunrise, so we could watch sunrise from the ‘top’. Joshua and I set off with the two Israeli guys. We were all equipped with torches – mainly head torches though sadly mine had died, so I used Joshua’s spare torch! (I think my head torch got tired of lighting too many showers in power cuts in Sri Lanka to be honest!?). It quickly became apparent that the Israelis were very snappy walkers! I would like to think it was because they had walking boots not trainers, but it definitely was not just that – they were fit and fearless as well as their grippy shoes!!
We headed up in the dark past many a cliff edge and up many a step. The floor became icy and quickly my trainers became useless and the floor was so slide I was soooo glad to have two poles! We past some mountain cows and made it up to the viewpoint. The view of the mountains were insane in every direction! It was also insanely cold when you weren’t walking and I went from two layers to six to watch sunrise! I went in the teashop and ordered a milk tea for me and the Israelis and I huddled around the fire made of sticks in the tea tent with the group of Nepali mates we had met the day before.
I walked a little further up to get a different view and the floor was soooo icy! I had left my poles at the lower viewpoint and so I struggled up and wondered how the hell I’d get down again! The views were beautiful. After a while, I struggled down the ice and got back to my poles, before heading down the mountain again. I was exceptionally slow and nearly everyone overtook me on my way down due to a combination of shit shoes and being scared of falling! I walked down with an Indian family from Mumbai – not sure why nearly all the Indians I’ve met are from Mumbai! They were a nice bunch with a fourteen year old going up to people in their thirties.
When I arrived back at the teahouse, Joshua and the Israelis was already eating breakfast. I joined him and ordered an omelette and pancakes. I took a short nap and then we headed down back to Forest Camp. We stopped on the way in Low Camp and had lunch. Both the Israelis and the Nepali couple were there and we wolfed down pasta. Then we headed down to Forest Camp. We decided to head on to Landruk which was meant to be another two hours or so away.
We headed down a path through the woods and walked down some disintegrating stairs on a cliff edge. Since we were soooo tired and had been walking for ages, it took us another four hours ish to get down. We made it down just as the sun was setting, passing a lot of sheep with their farmer on the hillside and then another farmer shearing his sheep in the village – he even let me hold a baby lamb which was sooo cute!
We moreorless staggered into the guesthouse, set out stuff down and I went to get a tea. Then we showered, admired the madddd view, had dahl bhat. Then we staggered up the stairs, clawing at the banisters, to go to our rooms, and I made use of the WiFi and watched Netflix in bed!
24/4/22
Today we lay in and didn’t leave until 10/10.30, which is super late for hiking. We were headed to the hot springs on the Annapurna trail, but somehow took a longer route going via another village and scrambling across three waterfalls in quick succession as well as past many a cliff edge. Apparently there was a simple low level river route which took half the time and sadly we missed it! We crossed a couple of very long bouncy bridges which were pretty funny since Joshua was not a fan! Eventually we made it to Jhinu village. We continued straight to the hot springs, going down down down to the river side.
The springs were right next to the rushing river and it was so nice to sit in the warm and look at the river running past us. Not long after we got in, a storm began. There was thunder and lightning and then the rain came, which quickly changed to hail. We were under attack!! We all stayed in the springs and hid our faces from the piercing hail. Then, it cleared and went back to normal. A British guy recommended a guesthouse to us and we left.
We hiked back up to the top and stayed in a bustling guesthouse with a great view. I shamelessly ordered pizza for dinner and then had a battered Snickers with custard. I chatted with Joshua and the guy from the hot springs, Stephen. After dinner, I headed to bed.
wanderingwelshie travels 